The Hokies won their second consecutive ACC Championship on Saturday afternoon, routing Boston College 30-12 in Tampa. As a result, Virginia Tech is headed to the Orange Bowl for the second consecutive season, and the likely opponent is Cincinnati. Tech finishes the season 9-4, and with a win in the Orange Bowl, they’ll have their fifth straight 10-win season.

Virginia Tech jumped out to a 14-0 lead in the first half on the arm and legs of quarterback Tyrod Taylor, then coasted in the second half to the relatively easy victory.

Taylor finished the game 11-of-19 for 84 yards, with one interception on a tipped pass. Taylor also ran for 30 yards, and scored two rushing touchdowns in the first half. The numbers weren’t there, but he played a good game at quarterback for the Hokies.

Tech blocked the BC front seven much better than they did in the first meeting on October 18. Darren Evans ran for 114 yards and a touchdown on 31 carries. In the first meeting, Evans totaled just 27 yards on 17 carries.

Though Tech’s offense gained just 234 yards, they did a decent job of controlling the line of scrimmage and the ball. The Hokies had the ball for 35:54, while BC had possession for just 24:06.

The BC offense gained 308 yards of total offense, but much of that was late in the game when the Eagles were down and attempting to rally. The BC quarterback, r-freshman Dominique Davis, struggled. He was just 17-of-43 for 263 yards, with one touchdown and two interceptions.

The Tech defense made plenty of other plays besides sacks. Stephan Virgil intercepted a pass that set up a touchdown, while Orion Martin scooped up a fumble and returned it for a touchdown in the fourth quarter to ice the game.

Recap

Both teams traded punts on their first possessions, and then the Hokies drew first blood. Beginning at their own 39, Tech marched 61 yards on 10 plays. Tyrod Taylor had an outstanding drive, completing three of his four passing attempts for 36 yards. Darren Evans had four carries for 25 yards, and even Josh Oglesby got into the action with an eight yard rush.

In the end, it was Tyrod Taylor who finished off the drive. Facing third and four from the BC 5, Taylor scrambled up the middle for a five yard touchdown run, making the score 7-0 with 6:27 remaining in the first quarter.

The Hokies got back on the scoreboard early in the second quarter. Macho Harris returned a punt 15 yards to the Tech 49, setting up the Hokie offense with good field position. They promptly took advantage.

The big play of the drive was a 30 yard run by Darren Evans off the left side, which set the Hokies up with a first down at the BC nine. After two rushing plays netted five yards, Tyrod Taylor ran another one in on third down, this time from four yards out. With 11:08 remaining in the second quarter, the Hokies led 14-0.

The Hokies were driving again later in the quarter, but a pass from Tyrod Taylor from the BC 30 was tipped and intercepted by safety Paul Anderson. The Tech defense nearly allowed a touchdown on the ensuing possession. Rich Gunnell caught a pass over the middle and took it up the field, but he was caught inside the Tech 5 by Macho Harris. Harris stripped the ball free, and it was recovered in the end zone by Cam Martin for a touchback.

The Eagles did manage to get back into the game before the half. A 51 yard screen pass to true freshman tailback Montel Harris gained 51 yards to the Tech 15. Two plays later, Dominique Davis found Rich Gunnell on a 16 yard touchdown strike to the corner of the end zone. The Hokies went on to take a 14-7 lead into the halftime intermission.

That was as close as Boston College got in this game. Virginia Tech had another offensive scoring drive in the third quarter. Key plays were an 11 yard run by Darren Evans and an 18 yard scramble by Tyrod Taylor. Facing third and one at the BC 26, Taylor was sacked for a seven yard loss. Dustin Keys came on for a 50 yard field goal attempt, and he drilled it, giving Tech a 17-7 lead with 6:07 remaining in the third quarter.

The rest of the half was Tech’s defense asserting its dominance. The Eagles were down by 10 points and started to throw the football down the field with a freshman quarterback. The Hokies took advantage, with Stephan Virgil intercepting a pass at the BC 46, and returning it all the way to the Eagle 10. One play later, Darren Evans rumbled in from 10 yards out, giving Tech a 24-7 lead with 1:17 left in the third quarter.

The Eagles got a field goal two possessions later thanks to a fumble by Darren Evans. However, the Tech defense came right back in the fourth quarter. On first and 10 at the BC 29, Jason Worilds got into the backfield and sacked Dominique Davis, who lost the football. It bounced right off the turf into the arms of defensive end Orion Martin, who returned it 17 yards for a touchdown. The extra point missed, but the Hokies led 30-10 with 9:05 left in the game.

BC had another chance to get back into the game after another fumble by Darren Evans. However, after driving from the Tech 32 to inside the 5, Davis’ pass was broken up by Macho Harris, and it bounced into the waiting arms of linebacker Brett Warren. That virtually sealed the game for Tech.

Brett Bowden later intentionally ran out of the back of the end zone on a punt, giving the Eagles their final two points of the game. Frank Beamer didn’t want to risk a punt block or a punt return, so he gave BC two points and put the game in the hands of Bud Foster. It worked perfectly, as the Eagles only picked up one first down the remainder of the game, and the Hokies went on to win 30-12.

The Hokies are now headed to the Orange Bowl, and we’ll officially find out their opponent on Sunday night. It is expected to be Big East Champion Cincinnati, who finished the season 10-2, with a 6-1 mark in Big East play. The Bearcats are currently #13 in the BCS Standings.

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